'Paedophile Parties' Gang Given Indefinite Jail Sentences

A soldier who was part of a sex abuse ring that held "paedophile parties" has been jailed indefinitely, Scotland Yard said.

Simon Wyn-Davies, 38, from Windsor in Berkshire, was given an indeterminate prison sentence for public protection at Reading Crown Court and will serve a minimum of 11-and-a-half years.

He was jailed for 22 counts, including rape of a child under 13, conspiracy to rape and distributing indecent images of children.

Three other members of the gang were also jailed indefinitely in September - retired Nicholas Cordery, 63, from Wiltshire; charity worker Peter Malpas, 47, from Moulton, Northamptonshire and IT trainer Anthony Flack, 54, from Bristol.

Their paedophile ring was discovered when an undercover officer made contact with Flack online in August 2011.

Flack used the online name "WoofWoof" and bragged about a man called Nick who organised paedophile parties at his farm, the Metropolitan Police said.

The officer arranged to meet him at a hotel later that month, where Flack had booked a hotel room thinking he was going to have sex with a child, and he was arrested.

Email messages to Wyn-Davies were found on his computer, containing obscene images and videos, and officers then managed to track down messages from Cordery, in which he claimed he had contacts that could arrange for the men to meet children. Malpas was arrested later.

In total, detectives found more than 100,000 indecent images of children during their investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh said the men were "highly manipulative, evil and dangerous individuals".

He said: "I believe that these defendants will have committed other offences and I would therefore urge anyone who believes they may have been a victim to have the confidence to report the incident to the police. We are here to support and protect you."